Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-05-20
HUDSON BAY NATIVES.
OF THE MIXED RACES
IN THE NORTHWEST.
People Who Get On in the World Without the Use
Of Aoney-SOms Pecaliarites III Funeral
Costumes and Second Marriages.

SDscill Correspondence Of the RsgIa,r.
OTTAWA, ONT, May Those who have
never seen life as it exists among the in
habitants OF the Hudson Bay country
would be astonished at the extent of civ
ilization found among class of people
generally supposed TO be savages, rs well
as mt the awful grandeur OF the scenery
and fnrbidding aspect of the graveyard
COASTS along the shores Of that northern sea.
In all the uninhabitable region of North
America there is nowhere to be found .
more bleak, deS0late or dreaiy waste than
that between Ungaya bay, off the coast
of Labrador on the east, and Fort Chur-
chill on the west and southern part
of Hudson Bay proper. Although little
Is known yet regarding this weird and
frozen region, it has had growth within
the last half century which has been some
thing phenomenal, and having been meas
ured according to its needs by the God Oi
Nature has gone on advancing from age to
aye, until ut the present time not alone
the more fertile islands but the extent OF
land back from the coast on either side Is
thickly populated by people who hunt
and fish and breed and talk and chatter
even among the misery and restitution
which life in a region Of perpetual frost
and snow must bring. HudsOn's bay
itSe.f is really an inland sea,
extending between latitude 81 degrees
and "a deg. north and longitude - deg.
and % deg. west, and while about 1000
miles long ut its greatest distance, is only
about 600 miles in breadth, covering an
area Of over son, 900 square miles. 1t is
uaviglble only for about three months i'll
the year-irOm the middle of June 10 the
middle of Septemher-andf for the remain
der of the year is filled with drift ice,
which renders navigation, even for short
distance, an absolute impoSsibility. The
eastern coasts to the bay are sights
to be admired, cliffs rising in many
cases to height Of from
2rO to 400 feet abruptly from the
waters edge aud being composed OF a
gacier like substance which, being ever
coated with ice and frozen snow, shine IN
the sunlight until il is almost impossible
to look ut them tor any length OF time. The
residents OF this section are not properly
Esuuimaux, but a cross between this race
and the French and Indians, who have come
in for the purpose Of hunting and fishing
and finally settled down among the natives
to live ~ they do and share with them in
the priyatiOnS which no other lite affords.
On an average, in the summer months, the
thermometer stands at about II degrees
above, while the temperature in the winter
runs as low rs 60 degrees below zero
and will average about - degrees below.
Fish are scarce and can be caught only in
the rivers, of which on the east there Is
only the Great Whale, while on the west
there is the Hayes, Nelson, Churchill
Moore, Albany, Weeknisk, Main and Alb
hitibbe. Seal abound in plenty, but ART
| extremely shy and hard for the natives t.
| .etit while porpoise and walruS are equally
difficult to get hold of. Were ii not tOI
| the small fur bearing animals which. ar,
/ about the shores the poor halt-breed>
would stand very good chance
| of perishing by hunger, rs they cal
expect nothing in the way of favors from
the Hudson Bay cOmpany's stores, few
OF which are along the coast. Thenatlve
live in little villages composed oftrom nit!
10 q hundred rude hutS. Each community
has its place of worship aud its churct
burial ground, which is cOGsecrated by tn
Moravian missionaries. few of whom ar
TO be found wandering about from village
10 village, from the eastern extent of tn
settlements down as far rs Fort Churchill
On the west. These faithful, devoted mel
expect no reeOmpense for their services
and if they did the wouldn't get 1t, 10
there il not in all the cOuatry such
thing is money, the only exchange bein
in fish, oil or furs. Whenever one of
tribe dies the rest of his f;Emily-meanini
by that the entire settlement-stop wOrI
for the day and prepare to bury him.
the settlement possesses such q thing rs
dinner bell, and the most of them do, tn
oldest man in the village goes about iIou
hut TO hut and rings the bell IN front 9
each until the occupants come out, bot
big and little, and, falling into line, marc
after him. When the circuit has bee
made and big and little are all collected,
march is made for the Kirote, as itiS called
the village church, which consists
about an acre of ground simply inclOsed D
q wall OF stones near the middle OF I'd
community. Into this little field 90 tn
entire populace, and after chanting IN
virtues of the dead for some hours, tn
corpse is taken away on skin rock an
covered with ice and snow in the commo
burial plot. The rest of the day IS spen
in rejoicing, and the next day, II the de